Mitchell Earl Hodge 1962-2006

I am very grateful for the kind comments on the previous post, but the reason this blog has been shut down for nearly a fortnight is because of the very untimely death of my American brother-in-law, Mitch Hodge, in a road accident near his home in Arizona on Good Friday.

Mitch was a super guy who was always great fun to be with and who I was proud to have as a member of my family. There were several local news reports on the accident that caused his death, but I won't link out to them because none of them came close to doing him justice.

My wife Gill and I flew out to Arizona last weekend to be with the family and attend his memorial service, held in a breathtaking open-air setting in the Verde Valley which he loved, surrounded by panoramic mountain views.

It was a suitable send-off for a man who loved life, loved the outdoors, and had a great gift for friendship. His employers, Creative Technology, have placed this tribute on the homepage of their website.

Time out

Apologies to anyone who's been here in recent days expecting to find the latest up-to-the-minute political analysis....but owing to a family bereavement I'm taking some time out and I will not be updating this blog again for a while. Normal service will be resumed in about 10-14 days I expect.

Till then,

Paul

Is this the smoking gun?

I think I might have spoken too soon in signing off for Easter. Today's story about the arrest of former Government adviser Des Smith could turn out to be one of the political stories of the decade.

It's also another triumph for Guido Fawkes who set out as long ago as 24 March why Mr Smith might be a fit subject for investigation, as they say at the Yard.

Why is it such a big deal? Because Mr Smith was involved in helping to recruit potential business sponsors for the establishment of specialist schools and city academies - one of Mr Tony's flagship policies.

If it is found that peerages were offered in return for such sponsorship, then this is a fuse that is going to lead straight back to Number 10.

Polly and Marina sock it to Milburn

Alan Milburn knew he wouldn't get much backing from the solidly Brownite Guardian in considering his potential leadership bid, but the former health secretary probably wasn't expecting this double whammy from columnists Polly Toynbee and Marina Hyde.

And there was me thinking that Milburn's appeal to women voters (and journalists) was one of his political strong points....

Lord Who?

Much of the interest in the new list of working peers will doubtless centre on which of them have donated money to the two main parties - but I have long had a different bee in my bonnet about lists of this kind.

Basically it concerns the issue of the Liberal Democrats nominating former MPs for peerages who have achieved little of distinction in the Lower House.

Iain Dale has touched on this before in a post about Jenny Tonge, a Lib Dem MP chiefly remembered for making an injudicious comment about suicide bombers before later joining the conspiracy to bring down Charles Kennedy.

Now the party has nominated another two of its lesser lights for elevation to the ermine - former MPs John Burnett and Brian Cotter.

New Labour may have perpetrated some shameful abuses of the honours system, but at least it has the decency to nominate candidates who have actually achieved something, like long-serving former Labour MP, MEP and Europe Minister Joyce Quin.

I know the Lib Dems are short of people to nominate as working peers, but it seems wrong to me that you can become a peer simply by virtue of having been elected, for however short a time, as an MP.

The other point is that surely good Liberal Democrats ought to have more self-respect than to prop up what is basically a rotten system.

The sooner we move to electing the Lords the better for all concerned.

Gordon's Cabinet

Some interesting speculation today from Tim Hames about who Gordon Brown will appoint to his Cabinet, assuming of course he emerges victorious over uber-Blairite challenger Alan Milburn.

Hames's ingenious suggestion is that Brown should appoint people he doesn't really get on with to the main offices of state in order to demonstrate that he is not the control freak everyone thinks he is.

Hence in Tim's fantasy line-up, Jack Straw gets to be Chancellor and John Reid Foreign Secretary, while Charles Clarke hangs onto the Home Office.

It might be good politics on Brown's part - but surely somewhat implausible in view of the Brownite - Blairite tensions and what will be Brown's understandable desire to put his own stamp on Government.

I do however agree with Hames that Brown will not make the mistake of making his closest ally, Alistair Darling, Chancellor in that it is important for the markets to know that the Chancellor is his own man. Or woman...

Here, for the record - and also because it's a bit of fun - is what I reckon Prime Minister Gordy might do:

Prime Minister: Gordon Brown
Deputy Prime Minister and Home Secretary: Hilary Benn
Chancellor of the Exchequer: Patricia Hewitt
Foreign Secretary: Alistair Darling
Leader of the House of Commons: Charles Clarke
Constitutional Affairs Secretary: Peter Hain
Lord Chancellor: Baroness (Harriet) Harman
Party Chairman: Alan Johnson
Education Secretary: David Miliband
Health Secretary: Yvette Cooper
Defence Secretary: John Reid
Work and Pensions Secretary: Ruth Kelly
Environment Secretary: Stephen Timms
Transport Secretary: Des Browne
Trade and Industry Secretary: Douglas Alexander
Culture Secretary: Dawn Primarolo
Leader of the Lords: Lord Kinnock
Communities and Local Government Secretary: Hazel Blears
International Development Secretary: John Denham
Chief Secretary to the Treasury: John Healey
Chief Whip: Nick Brown

I'm not going to go through each choice one-by-one explaining my rationale but I for one reckon this line-up is considerably more dynamic than the existing one, which I suspect will be Brown's main intention in seeking to maintain continuity while at the same time giving the appearance of a new government.

Of the 11 casualties, seven would be voluntary retirements (Blair, Prescott, Straw, Beckett, Armstrong, McCartney, Amos) while four would be sackings (Falconer, Hoon, Jowell, Hutton.)

Reid would keep his job, both as a unifying gesture to the ultra-Blairites (likewise Miliband, Blears) and because he's simply the best Labour defence secretary available. The return of Denham would be designed to draw a clear line under the Iraq War.

In terms of machinery changes, the Wales and Northern Ireland offices would become part of the DCA (as originally planned by Blair,) while the ODPM would be renamed Local Government and Communities.